


Stranger Things Have Happened

by CatsBalletHarveySpecter



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: El meddles, Hopper loses his memory, Jopper, One Shot, Post-Series, my random jopper thoughts at 1am, season 4, the fluff version of a season 4 rescue, the one where hopper is rescued
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatsBalletHarveySpecter/pseuds/CatsBalletHarveySpecter
Summary: A random collection of Jopper one-shots!(I take requests)
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Joyce Byers & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Stranger Things Have Happened

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello! welcome to a random collection of jopper one shots! 
> 
> feel free to dm me prompts!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-S3. Hopper is rescued and doesn't remember anything. When his memory comes back Joyce isn't sure how to ask if he remembers their date.

It all happens so quickly. One minute they’re in a Russian prison searching for him, the next she’s standing next to his hospital bed, listening to the alarming sounds screaming from the machines he’s hooked up to.

_ 127 days.  _

It’s been 127 days since she last saw him. Just upwards of 3000 hours, more seconds than imaginable and now, here he was — laying semi-conscious in a hospital bed two feet away from her. 

It’s all a blur. How they got here. The plan. None of it matters anymore. She’s not sure any of it ever mattered. He was alive. Barely breathing.  _ But alive.  _

Hopper had been in and out of consciousness since they rescued him from the base and while Joyce was dying for a chance to tell him that El was alright, she wanted him to be fully aware when she informed him of everything he’d missed while he was missing.

She listens while the doctors talk to her, though their words fall on deaf ears. Murray, who hadn’t left her side since they stepped foot in the hospital nods enthusiastically each time they’re told new information. Joyce, on the other hand, stares at a lifeless Hopper and prays.

She’d never been one to consider herself a religious person, but what else was she supposed to do? 

The nurses rush in and out of the overcrowded room, pushing a variety of fluids through IV lines, scribbling numbers down on medical charts. 

She processes none of it until she feels a faint squeeze of her knuckle and looks down to find Hopper's hand grasping hers.

He begins to stir and Joyce places her free hand over where he’s holding her thumb. For the first time since they successfully pulled off their rescue mission, she allows herself to breathe.

“D-Diane?” Hopper asks in a hoarse voice.

It takes everyone in the room by surprise and they wait for him to speak again. 

“Diane?” he asks again, gaze directed at Joyce.

Confused, Joyce releases Hopper’s hand and steps back next to Murray to let the doctor through. She thinks she overheard one of the nurses talking to Murray about potential memory loss but she’d known Hopper practically her entire life. She didn’t think she had anything to worry about. 

“Hi, Jim. I’m Dr. Bailey. I’m going to need you to answer a few questions for me, okay?” The doctor steps in and begins probing Hopper’s eyes with a small flashlight.

“Okay.”

“Do you know who this is?” he asks, pointing to Joyce.

“Am I supposed to know?” he asks weakly.

“What about me? You’ve got to remember me, huh big fella?” Murray asks, stepping up to the foot of the bed.

“Are you a friend of Diane’s?” he asks.

“Hop,” Joyce says with pleading eyes. She grasps the plastic footboard at the bottom of the bed hard enough that her knuckles turn white. “It’s me. Joyce. Don’t you remember?”

“Joyce? From school?”

“From school.”

“My God, I haven’t seen you in years. Look at you, you’re all grown up.”

“Why don’t we give him a minute guys? Let’s step out into the hall? I’d like to run a few tests,” the doctor suggests.

Doing as they’re told, Murray pulls Joyce out into the hall and grabs her arm to steady her.

“He doesn’t remember,” Joyce muses out loud. 

“I’m sure it’ll all come back to him,” Murray tries to reassure her.

“And if it doesn’t?!” She’s panicked now. Never in her worst nightmares did she imagine he wouldn’t remember them. What was she supposed to tell El? The girl would be absolutely devastated to discover that the one person she trusted would never abandon her, couldn’t remember who she was. 

“It will.”

“Alright,” the doctor claps as he joins them. “Everything is looking good we’re going to run a few more tests and do some blood work but I think he’s going to be just fine.”

“And the memory thing?” Joyce asks desperately.

“Should be temporary. Sometimes when patients experience something traumatic they try and hold on to a time in their life when things felt the least chaotic. I’m guessing that your friend here will start to remember things soon. In the meantime, telling him stories might help to jog his memory.”

What he’s saying makes sense. Before Hopper returned to Hawkins he had a simple life with Sara and Diane. Things only began to flip upside down (literally) when he returned to Hawkins and they reunited in their pursuit to find Will. She wants to believe what she’s being told but a small part of her is terrified that the past few years have been erased from his life permanently.

She returns to his room and slowly approaches the bed with her best fake smile.

“Hey,” she says softly.

“Hi.”

“You have no clue why I’m here, do you?”

“Honestly, no,” he admits.

“Do you mind if I sit?”

“Be my guest.”

Joyce takes a seat on the edge of the bed near his feet and folds her hands over her lap.

“You know, we thought we lost you.”

“We?”

“Mhmm,” she nods. “Me and your adopted daughter, Jane.”

“I-“

“I know. It’s a lot. The doctor said it might be good for us to tell you some stories to help jog your memory. If it becomes too much just tell me to stop, okay?”

“Guess it’s worth a shot.”

“Should I start from the beginning?” she asks.

“I think that you better.”

And she does. She begins by telling him about that morning years ago when he found her waiting in his office. She tells Jim’s stories of the Upside Down and the horrors that have plagued their lives for the past few years.

Joyce tells him about El and how she came to be his adopted daughter. She fills him in on Murray and how his crazy theories turned out to not be so crazy. Finally, she tells him about game nights at her house, how much her boys have grown to love him and how she’d taken El in before they moved across the country (she leaves out the part about him being upset she wanted to leave Hawkins, though). 

He listens the entire time she speaks, periodically stopping her to ask questions. After a while, he yawns and his eyes begin to flutter shut. She promises him she’ll be back and brings the blanket up to his elbows before leaving him to rest. On her way out of the room, she looks back at him and smiles. He looked so peaceful. He looked so  _ alive. _

After two painfully long days in the hospital, Hopper is finally cleared to return home with Joyce. 

Though his memory hadn’t fully returned, the majority of it had and Hopper couldn’t wait to see Eleven once they returned to the Byers. 

The wave of relief that Joyce experienced on the second day after walking into his room and discovering his memory of her had returned was unimaginable. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him until the moment he said he looked up at her and said her name in a way that wordlessly told her,  _ he remembered. _

How much he remembered, she wasn’t sure. She doesn’t push for details, instead opting to launch herself into his arms for a long-overdue hug. 

It isn’t until she’s helping him or of bed and into a pair of his old sweatpants that are now far too large on him that she wonders if he remembers how they left things. 

Did he remember that she agreed to a date or had that detail been omitted? Should she bring it up or wait for him to bring it up or was this entire thing a waste of time because none of it mattered anymore? She has so many questions she’s dying to ask but she knows he needs time to readjust and she’s determined to be a good friend. 

  
  


_ It hits him while he’s watching her out in the hall talking with one of his doctors. How on earth could he forget her? Joyce Byers. The woman that could potentially be his soulmate.  _

_ Every memory he has of her from the past few years comes flooding back as he watches her wave her arms around and asks questions. _

_ The day he found her in his office pleading for his help in finding Will. _

_ Holding El’s hand while she floated in the pool in the middle of the school gymnasium. _

_ With Bob the Brain. _

_ Ranting about her magnets. _

_ Insisting they check on the kids. _

_ In her little green cap. _

_ Enzo’s. 7 pm.  _

_ Turning the key. _

_ He doesn’t say anything about it at first, too embarrassed to have forgotten such a large part of his life. Besides, who forgets the woman they love? Instead, he decides he’ll gradually let on to the fact that he remembers. Unfortunately, she sees right through his facade and knows that he remembers the moment they lock eyes the next day.  _

_ Now, he’s not sure where they stand. _

El walks around with her arms wrapped around Hopper’s waist for hours after they return home. The Byers had moved into a small house on the California coast and Joyce does her best to make Hopper feel comfortable in a place so far away from what he’s used to calling home. 

She takes the boys out for ice cream to give Hopper some time alone with El, and when they return she finds the pair cuddled up and fast asleep on the sofa. 

She wakes them both for dinner and they all sit down at a table that just barely fits them all. Will excitedly tells Hopper about his new friends at school and El proudly tells him that she got an A on her last test. When she doesn’t mention anything about her new friends, Joyce shoots Hopper a look that tells him she’ll fill him in later. 

El sits so close to Hopper that his elbow bumps into her plate several times during dinner and she and Will talk non-stop about how cool it was to live together. He can tell by the way they finish each other’s sentences that they formed a fast bond and it warms his heart to see that they have someone to confide in. Especially after the hellish past few years. 

Once dinner is over, Hopper excuses himself to get some rest. Joyce insists he takes her bedroom because the couch is far too small but eventually gives in and fetches him a blanket for the couch. 

“Are you sure you don’t need a hand with anything?” he asks.

“I’m sure. Really Hop, you shouldn’t be sleeping on the couch…”

“It’s fine. I’ve slept on worse.”

“Seriously Hopper. If it’ll make you feel better we can share the bed?” 

“The couch is fine, really.”

She sighs and waves him off, returning to her dishes absentmindedly.

Not wanting to overstep and unsure of where they stand but unwilling to bring it up in front of their kids, Hopper curls onto the couch and buries himself in a blanket, desperate for sleep.

“They’re being weird, right?” Will asks El as they watch the interaction from the kitchen table.

“Yes,” El nods.

“Do you think something happened?” 

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. But mom was really excited to have Hopper back and now she doesn’t look very excited,” Will explains. 

“Maybe she’s just tired.”

“Yeah. Maybe…”

.

.

After a sleepless night on a sofa that was much too small, Hopper decides to stay back and nap in a proper bed while Joyce takes the kids out to lunch. 

When he wakes from his nap, he finds the house empty with the exception of Murray who is sitting at the kitchen table. 

“Good morning,” Murray sings at Jim when he enters the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Hopper grumbles.

“Can’t a guy check-in?”

“He can when he’s invited.”

“Joyce invited me for dinner.”

“Right.”

“How’s it going with you two love birds anyway? I figured now that everything’s back to normal you’d be all over each other like a monkey on a banana.”

“ _ What _ ?” Hopper exhales. 

“Dad!” El cries as she bursts into the kitchen and launches her arms around Hopper. Yesterday had been the first time he’d ever heard her call him dad and though she’d said it about a hundred times since, he loved hearing it. 

“Hey kid, how was lunch?”

“Great! Joyce said that if you’re okay with it we can do a bonfire later and Will and I can sleep in the tent!”

“She did, huh?” He looks over her head at Joyce who shrugs guiltily.

“ _ Pleeeeease.” _

“Alright. But why don’t we just play games in the tent and sleep in the house?”

“Deal! I’m going to go and tell Will,” she squeals.

“A tent?”

“They love it. It’s like a Fort,” she explains. 

“Well, sounds like you two have your hands full so I’ll get out of your hair,” Murray excuses himself.

“I thought you were here for dinner?” Hopper asks.

“I was but I wouldn’t want to impose on a  _ family _ camping trip,” he smirks. He pays Hopper on the back on his way out, leaving him alone with Joyce in the kitchen.

“Did you sleep alright?” she asks.

“As well as you’d expect.”

“Look, Joyce,” he adds, “I never really thanked you.”

“Thanked me, for what?”

“All of this. Saving me. Her,” he gestures over his shoulder to where El and Will are drawing. “I owe you everything.”

“You owe me nothing,” she insists.

“That’s not true,” he says softly, “I think I owe you dinner.”

“Oh.” She blushes and looks at her feet. He  _ did _ remember.

“Unless… unless that offer no longer stands?”

“Mom!! Can we set up the tent?” Will calls out.

She pauses before answering. “Sure. Be careful.”

“Can the chief help us?”

They exchange a knowing glance and Hopper replies, “sure I can.”

He briefly locks eyes with Joyce before leaving to help set up the tent, a silent promise that they’ll continue their conversation later. 

.

.

Three failed attempts and some handiwork featuring El’s newly reinstated powers later and a tent stands proudly in the Byers yard. Joyce passes El and Will a thermos of hot chocolate and claims a seat next to Hopper around the card game set up in the center. Jonathan somehow managed to “pick up a shift” and avoid game night in the tent, which left the four of them to brave the cool evening air inside the two-person tent. 

Crammed around the cards, Hopper places a hand on the other side of Joyce and welcomes her into his space. Joyce leans towards him subtly and enjoys the warmth and the excited buzz she feels brought on by their close proximity. 

Hopper catches El staring at where his hand is placed and feels the need to explain. “This is a very tiny tent.”

“Yeah, no one believes that,” she states bluntly. 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You love each other.”

“El-” Hopper warns her.

“No. You do. And now you’re both acting weird. But you missed him,” she says to Joyce.

“Just because you miss someone, doesn’t mean you love them kiddo,” Hopper tells her. 

“But, Joyce told me she did,” El adds looking at Joyce, who blushes and looks away. 

“Why don’t you two run inside and grab us some extra blankets?” Hopper instructs El and Will. Picking up on the fact that the adults wanted to be alone, Will grabs El’s hand and ushers her into the house where he explains that they probably wanted to talk alone. 

“Is that true?” Hopper asks once the kids are inside. 

“How can you not know by now that it is?” she sighs. 

“Joyce - you…”

“Love you,” she finishes for him. “Yup. Pretty stupid right.”

“Pretty stupid,” he repeats in a whisper. 

She goes to move away from him but his strained voice calls out to her and she stills. “Joyce.” 

Turning to face him, she comes eye to eye with the man she’d thought she lost forever, staring at her with passion-fueled eyes and forgets everything that’s happened over the past day and a half. She forgets the fear and uncertainty and suddenly she’s back in the tenth-grade swimming in blue eyes, desperate to be kissed. 

He lifts his hand to cup her cheek, allowing his thumb to trace the ghost of a trail along her jawline. He raises her chin with the palm of his hand and hesitantly presses his lips to hers. 

There is nothing hesitant in the way she kisses him back. It’s needy and passionate and 137 days, 3048 hours of missing him all fuelled into one physical action. 

When they part, he cups her face in both of his hands and rests his forehead against hers. 

“You have no idea who many times I’ve dreamt of doing that,” he admits. 

“Don’t leave again,” she whispers. “Please.”

He nods and they share in a silent moment. No kids. No thoughts. No fears. Just the two of them, embracing in what is the first peaceful moment either of them has had in years. 

Hopper places a kiss on her forehead and wraps an arm around her, pulling her into his side. 

“About that dinner I owe you,” he smiles.

“About that,” she grins back. She leans up and steals another kiss before the pattering sound of shoes running towards them demands their attention. The zipper of the tent comes undone and Will and El pop their heads in holding a large blanket.

“Got it!”

“We  _ will _ continue this later,” Hopper whispers to Joyce. She knows they have a lot to talk about but she’s pretty sure he’s not talking about continuing the conversation part of things and it makes her giddy with excitement. 

Will passes the new blanket to Joyce, who drapes it over her shoulders and traps her hair beneath it. Hopper leans over and lifts her hair from beneath the blanket, then leaves his hand on her shoulder. 

“Did you make up?” El asks innocently. 

“We weren’t fighting kid.”

“But Will said that you had to  _ work it out _ .”

“We just had to have an adult conversation.” 

“Now, who’s ready to lose so we can all go inside where it’s warmer,” Joyce claps. 

An hour later, with Will and El both fast asleep on the tent floor, Hopper follows Joyce back to the porch where they sit on the step passing a cigarette back and forth. 

The sun has completely faded beyond the horizon and the air temperature dropped significantly, causing Joyce to shiver. 

Hopper pulls her into his side and rubs his palms down her arms to warm her. He leans over and kisses her cheek. Then, uses his thumb to turn her head and lift her chin before softly kissing her.

“Pretty  _ damn _ stupid,” he whispers against her lips.

“What is?” she almost laughs.

“Me waiting this long to tell you that I love you.”


End file.
